For the past two years I have been telling my liberal friends, Jay, that the Religious Right is not dead; it is not even sleeping. I’ve also been alerting them to the fact that the so-called “new evangelicals” may have a legitimate interest in poverty and environmental degradation, but that they often are anti-reproductive choice, anti-gay, and against real separation of church and state. I’m on the email list of many “conservative” groups (to see how the other half thinks), and I got an interesting missive today from the Family Research Council.

Confirming my point, we now know that Pastor Rick Warren (of the celebrated Saddleback Church Forum about which we began this blog) is raising high the homophobia rooftop in supporting Proposition 8 out in California to overturn that state’s high court ruling that gay and lesbian couples must be allowed to have the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage.

According to Warren “if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you have to support Proposition 8”. I don’t recall Pastor Rick urging passage of any constitutional amendments prohibiting divorce, although that topic (unlike “gay marriage”) is actually mentioned in the Bible.

But Warren goes on. He claims: “this isn’t even just a Christian issue, it is a humanitarian and human issue, that God created marriage for the purpose of family, love and procreation”. In his own illogically driven prose, it turns out that the only reason for “humanitarians” to support it is because Rick Warren’s version of God wants them to. A bit of circular reasoning there, I’d say. And this is Warren’s God, not the God of many of us Christians. We read the Bible with an emphasis on compassion, not attuned to the bitter fear of others that is apparently encrusted on to Warren’s soul.

Please note that in discussing political issues, candidates’ positions and political party statements, the Rev. Barry Lynn and Jay Sekulow are offering analysis in their individual capacities as lawyers and commentators. They are not speaking on behalf of Americans United for Separation for Church and State or for the American Center for Law & Justice. Those organizations do not endorse or oppose candidates for public office. Nothing contained in this dialogue should be construed as the positions of the respective organizations.